Tribune gets it right on exotic animal shows — Mailbox for June 6

I was very excited to read the Tribune Editorial Board's opinion (May 28) regarding exotic animal shows having no place at the Greeley Stampede and calling for a citywide ban of these acts. There also was a column from Pat Craig, executive director and founder of The Wild Animal Sanctuary, affirming these shows are no longer acceptable.

They are right — these shows have no place in our communities or our society. The extremely unnatural existence for these animals (caged and transported all over the country), as well as the abuse they endure all for the sake of their owners' bank accounts and the idea they are somehow "entertaining" or "educating" the public is completely unacceptable. They also can be dangerous for the audience as seen during an incident last year in Florida with a white tiger show that had recently performed in Greeley.

Even though one of the largest circuses in the country has closed, there still will be many traveling exotic animal shows visiting local fairs and festivals. These animals deserve our support and respect and banning these acts is one way to do it.

The Wild Animal Sanctuary near Keenesburg (where I have volunteered for the past six years) is the largest sanctuary in the world for large carnivores. It boggles my mind to think that Weld County and Greeley as the county seat do not embrace that fact and still allow these exotic animal acts to perform here.

It's time for our local lawmakers to be the front-runners in Colorado and ban these shows. Please contact the city council or county commissioners in your area and let them know the time has come to speak up for those that cannot speak for themselves.